Configuration management method of logical topology in virtual network and management server

ABSTRACT

(1) A configuration management in a management server is carried out such that setting patterns regarding creation of plural types of virtual resources and setting patterns regarding connection between the plural types of virtual resources are extracted from setting information of network devices configuring a virtual network by using plural types of virtualization technologies, (2) an ID required for creating a virtual resource and a connection relation between virtual resources are extracted from the extracted setting pattern, (3) an element corresponding to a virtual resource or a connection between a pair of virtual resources is created by using information including the extracted ID, and (4) the elements created from setting information of individual devices are aggregated to thereby create logical topology information representing a topology of the virtual network.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority based on Japanese patent application,No. 2011-219714 filed on Oct. 4, 2011, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to virtual networking, aconfiguration management server and a configuration management method.

In recent years, a complex virtual network for enabling to have variousconfigurations has been constructed by using a combination of aplurality of virtualization technologies, in the technical field ofcomputer networking.

The virtualization technology includes that of L2 (Layer 2) layer and ofL3 (Layer 3) layer. The virtualization technology for L2 layer includesa virtual LAN (Local Area Network) technique, such as IEEE802.1Q VLAN(Virtual Local Area Network), and a virtual interface technique, such asVLAN-interface and a sub-interface. The virtualization technology of L3layer also includes a virtual router technique, such as VRF (VirtualRouting and Forwarding) and VR (Virtual Router).

In an office network, for example, a construction and configurationchange for the virtual network have been easily realized by using thevirtual LAN technique and virtual interface technique without therestriction stemming from the structure of physical network. In adatacenter network and career network, customer networks having variousnetwork configurations is virtually consolidated over a single physicalnetwork by combining the virtual router technique in addition to theabove-described technique.

However, it has been difficult to maintain the correct information of alogical structure (logical topology) of the virtual network, as a resultof realizing the complex configuration of virtual network. Physicaldevices configuring the network respectively function as if a pluralityof virtual devices are present respectively inside the physical devices,and the virtual devices are coupled with each other by virtual linksthat are invisible to human eyes. As a result, the logical topology ofthe virtual network cannot be easily understood by only seeing aphysical network. In contrast, even though one tries to determine thelogical topology of the virtual network by checking information ofconfiguration settings of the devices (config), the highly increasedamount of items of setting information are set in the device group inthe case of complex virtual network, therefore, it is difficult toacquire the entire logical topology of virtual network from the settinginformation of physical devices.

An existing method having been adopted for acquiring the logicaltopology of virtual network and its problem are described below. First,there is a method such that the logical topology of virtual network iswritten in a management document to hold it. A problem of this method isthat information written in the management document is sometimes notcoincident with settings actually set in the devices when one changesthe device settings without updating the documents. Second, there isanother method adopted to solve the above-described problem, that is,the setting information of the devices is manually inspected to draw alogical topology diagram. However, in the complex virtual network, thehighly increase amount of items of setting information are set in thedevice as described above. Therefore, this method is not realistic sinceit possibly causes human error and takes a lot of time.

In order to solve the problem possessed in the existing method, anobject is that the setting information of devices (config) is analyzedautomatically to then create the logical topology information of virtualnetwork automatically. The information of the logical topology ofvirtual network can be acquired if the config of device can beautomatically analyzed, so that it can reduce the time to acquire thelogical topology while reducing the human error.

In contrast to the above-described object, there is related art forautomatically creating the logical topology information in the virtualnetwork.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,352 discloses to automatically create a relation ofinformation exchange among the virtual routers as the virtualizationtechnology of L3. This technique is used for VPN (Virtual PrivateNetwork) service in MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) network. Byusing this technique, a path exchange relation among the respectivevirtual routers for a plurality of customer sites can be acquired fromthe setting information of VRF in MPLS routers.

JP-A-2009-194675, the counterpart US Publication of which is US2009-0207756, discloses to automatically create topology information ofVLAN in the virtualization technology of L2. This technique is that thesetting information regarding the VLAN interface is used from the configinformation set in the devices in a network environment made up ofswitches and routers to create logical topology information configuredby a plurality of VLANs.

SUMMARY

The problem of the above-described related art is that the logicaltopology information of virtual network cannot be created in the networkenvironment using the plurality of virtualization technologies.

The technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,352 is only for routerrealizing VPN, and it can create the topology information only regardingthe virtual router, but cannot create the topology information regardingthe virtual LAN. In the office network and datacenter network, thevirtual LAN is a generally used technique, but this technique has aproblem such that the logical topology information cannot be determined.

The technique disclosed in JP-A-2009-194675 is only for switch androuter realizing VLAN. There is a problem that the logical topology ofvirtual network cannot be correctly acquired in the environment usingthe virtual router technique.

Further, this article has not disclosed the detailed information aboutthe realization of the technique such as the structure of tables.

Therefore, there arises a problem that the logical topology informationcannot be created in the complex virtual network environment configuredby combining the virtual LAN, virtual interface and virtual routertechniques, etc., in U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,352 and JP-A-194675. In thevirtual network using the plural virtualization technologies,information to be managed and associated is complex, compared with theuse of single virtualization technology. Such problem cannot be solvedeasily by simply extending related art.

The technique disclosed in this description is to create automaticallythe logical topology information of virtual network constructed by usingthe plural virtualization technologies. The plural virtualizationtechnologies include at least one or more of the virtual LAN, virtualinterface and virtual router techniques.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, in a configurationmanagement method of a logical topology in a virtual network, includingplural types of virtual resources configured by plural types ofvirtualization technologies, constructed on an information processingsystem coupled with physical devices including server device, storagedevice and network device by a network, the configuration managementmethod comprises: a step of holding a creation pattern for specifyingeither the plural types of virtual resources created by the plural typesof virtualization technologies and a connection pattern for specifyingeither connection relations between the plural types of virtualresources; a step of extracting information of a plurality of virtualresources and connection information between a plurality of virtualresources, from setting information set in the physical devices inaccordance with the creation pattern and the connection pattern; and astep of creating logical topology information of the virtual network inaccordance with the extracted information.

The method may further comprise: a step of managing information, forevery plurality of physical devices, used for collecting the settinginformation of the plurality of physical devices configured to form thevirtual network; and a step of collecting the setting information of thephysical devices by using the managed information.

The method may further comprise a step of making the created logicaltopology information visualized, and a step of adding or deleting thevirtual resource information configuring the visualized logical topologyinformation or a part of the connection information between the virtualresources, in response to a management request.

The method may further comprise a step of extracting a parameter foridentifying the virtual resource information from the settinginformation set in the physical devices in accordance with the creationpattern and the connection pattern.

The method may comprise that the virtual resource information includesinformation indicating a type of the virtual resource, an ID of thephysical device possessing the virtual resource and an ID foridentifying the virtual resource in the type of the virtual resource,and the connection information between the virtual resources includestwo pieces of the virtual resource connected each other.

In the case where the virtual resource information is associated with anode and the connection information of the virtual resource isassociated with an edge, the method may further comprise a step ofcreating the node from the setting information set in the physicaldevice in accordance with the creation pattern, a step of creating theedge from the setting information set in the physical device inaccordance with the connection pattern, and a step of creating a graphmade up of nodes and edges corresponding to the logical topology of thevirtual network.

The method may comprise that a node type representing a type of virtualresource is associated with the creation pattern, an edge typerepresenting a type of the connection relation of the virtual resourceis associated with the connection pattern, the logical topologyinformation includes at least three types of the node type and at leasttwo types of the edge type, node information representing the creatednode includes a node ID related to the node type, a physical device ID,and an ID in the node type, for uniquely identifying the node, and edgeinformation representing the created edge includes the edge type, andthe node ID of two nodes to be coupled with the edge.

In addition, the information processing system provides the managementserver, and the configuration management method of the logical topologymay be carried out by the management server.

The above-described aspect is applicable to the information processingsystem to be constructed by using the virtualization technology.

According to the teaching herein, the logical topology can be acquiredrapidly and accurately in the virtual network constructed by using theplural virtualization technologies.

The details of one or more implementations of the subject matterdescribed in this specification are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter will become apparent from thedescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system in an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a management server 109 in theembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a network device managingtable 204;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a node pattern managing table241 a;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an edge pattern managing table242 a;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a node managing table 243;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an edge managing table 244;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a node creating unit 234;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an edge creating unit 235;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing sequence of alogical topology creation;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing sequence of ananalysis processing of a single config at a step S1003;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing sequence of asingle node creating/registering processing at a step S1105;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing sequence of asingle edge creating/registering processing at a step S1110;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a logical topology;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a logical topology managingscreen; and

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a device configuration of themanagement server 109.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, one embodiment will be described with an example ofcreating logical topology information of a virtual network in a networksystem of a datacenter. In addition, the datacenter network is oneaspect for an application in principle and includes a network straddleda plurality of datacenters, a career network, an office network, acampus network, etc.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration in thisembodiment.

A datacenter 100 includes a system for supplying an appropriate ICTservice via a network 101. This system, including devices asconfiguration elements, includes: server devices such as servers 106 a,106 b, 106 c and 106 d; an SAN (Storage Area Network) switching devicessuch as FC (Fibre Channel) switches 107 a, 107 b; and storage devicessuch as storages 108 a, 108 b, in addition to network devices such as afirewall 102, a load balancer 103, an L3 switch 104, an L2 switch 105 a,105 b. It is not required to configure the system by using all of theabove-described devices. The system for supplying the appropriate ICTservice may be constructed by using appropriate types and appropriatenumber of the devices. A management server 109 is also coupled with thesystem and further coupled with a console 110.

The network device such as the firewall 102, load balancer 103, L3switch 104 and L2 switch 105 a, 105 b, constructs a LAN (Local AreaNetwork) to supply a network connectivity to the servers 106 a to 106 dand control packets to be transmitted and received by the servers. Thesenetwork devices may be coupled respectively with the servers and mayalso be coupled with an external network of the management server 109and the datacenter 100. A protocol for communicating in LAN includesEthernet (registered trademark), and a protocol for communicatingbetween LANs includes IP (Internet Protocol). These network devices havea virtual LAN technique such as VLAN, a virtual interface technique suchas VLAN interface and sub-interface, and a virtual router technique suchas VRF and VR to thereby configure a virtual network created over aphysical network.

The server device such as the server 106 a to 106 d carries out anapplication for supplying the appropriate ICT service. These serverdevices are coupled with each other via the above-described networkdevices and also coupled with the outside of the datacenter 100. Asdescribed later, the server devices access to the storage device 108 a,108 b via the FC switch 107 a, 107 b. Each of the server devices mountsNIC (Network Interface Card), HBA (Host Bus Adapter) or CNA (ConvergedNetwork Adapter) to thereby access to LAN and SAN. A plurality ofvirtual servers (VM) may also be created in the server device by VMM(Virtual Machine Monitor) technique or LPAR (Logical Partitioning)technique. In this case, the VM creates vNIC (Virtual Network InterfaceCard) as a virtual interface, vHBA (Virtual Host Bus Adaptor) and avirtual CNA and accesses to the network devices and storage devices viathese virtual interfaces.

The SAN switching device such as the FC switch 107 a, 107 b, configuresSAN to transfer an I/O (Input/Output) request from the server 106 a to106 d to the storage 108 a, 108 b and also transfer I/O data read outfrom the storage 108 a, 108 b to the server 106 a to 106 d. The protocolfor communicating in SAN and between SANs includes FC, FCIP (FC overIP), FCoE (FC over Ethernet) and iSCSI (Internet Small Computer SystemInterface). These SAN switching devices provide the virtualizationtechnology, such as Zoning, NPIV (N Port_ID Virtualization) and VSAN(Virtual Storage Area Networking). Other virtualization technologies maybe provided thereon.

The storage device, such as the storage 108 a, 108 b, provides anexternal storage area to the server 106 a to 106 d via theabove-described SAN. The storage device 108 a, 108 b includes NPIV forvirtualizing a physical port to be accessed to the storage and LU(Logical Unit) to be a logical volume configured in a physical storage.The storage 108 a, 108 b may provide a function of a port for thestorage and for a LUN (Logical Unit Number) masking etc. to beassociated the LU with the server.

The management server 109 collects a config (setting information of adevice) possessed respectively in the devices in the system to createlogical topology information for entirety or part of a virtual networkto be constructed by the plural devices in the datacenter 100 by usingthe collected config. The management server 109 visualizes the createdlogical topology information to make display on a screen of the console110.

In addition, the function of the configured devices (firewall, loadbalancer, etc.) in the above-described system may be provided by eitherhardware or software.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the management server 109.

The management server 109 has, as configuration elements, a configcollecting unit 201, a topology visualizing unit 202, a managementrequest accepting unit 203, a network device managing table 204, acreated topology DB 205, and a logical topology creating unit 206.

The config collecting unit 201 collects the config from the networkdevices in the datacenter 100. The config collecting unit 201 includes,as configuration elements, network device information registering unit211 and a config collector 212. The network device informationregistering unit 211 adds or deletes information required for collectingthe config from the network devices in the datacenter 100 to or from anafter-described network device managing table 204.

The config collector 212 refers to network device information of thenetwork device managing table 204 to collect the config from therespective network devices in the datacenter 100. The collected configis stored as a config file in the management server 109 to hold as astored file name list in the network device managing table 204, forexample. In addition, the config collector 212 is not essential, buteither method may be used if the management server 109 can analyze theconfig. For example, a manager may collect the config manually to thenstore as the config file in the management server 109.

The topology visualizing unit 202 visualizes the topology information inthe created topology DB 205 to output to a logical topology to GUI(Graphical User Interface) screen by using a GUI display controllingunit 221.

The management request accepting unit 203 accepts a processing requestregarding the creation of logical topology information from an operatorto instruct an execution of the processing to after-describedfunctioning units. The processing requested from the operator includes acollection of the config, a creation of the logical topology informationon the basis of the collected config, and a visualization of the createdlogical topology, for example. In this example, the functioning unitscorresponding to the respective processing units are the configcollecting unit 201, logical topology creating unit 206 and topologyvisualizing unit 202. In addition, the processing requested from theoperator, as other, includes a registration of a node pattern and anedge pattern, for example. In this embodiment, a node patternregistering unit 232 and an edge pattern registering unit 233 are calledout via the logical topology creating unit 206.

The network device managing table 204 holds information required forcollecting the config from the network devices. Such informationincludes a device ID, a model, an IP address, a login name, a password,etc. The detail of network device managing table 204 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 3.

The created topology DB 205 holds the logical topology informationcreated by the logical topology creating unit 206.

The logical topology creating unit 206 analyzes the config filecollected by the config collecting unit 201 to create the logicaltopology information of virtual network and a graph structure made up ofnodes and edges and store in the created topology DB 205.

The logical topology creating unit 206 includes, as configurationelements, a logical topology creating/managing table 231, the nodepattern registering unit 232, the edge pattern registering unit 233, anode creating unit 234, an edge creating unit 235, and a logicaltopology constructing unit 236.

The logical topology creating/managing table 231 manages information forcreating the nodes and edges from the config to also manage the creatednodes and edges. The logical topology creating/managing table 231includes one or more node pattern managing tables 241 a, 241 b, 241 c,one or more edge pattern managing tables 242 a, 242 b, 242 c, a nodemanaging table 243, and an edge managing table 244. The node patternmanaging tables 241 a to 241 c are referred when creating the nodes fromthe config, and the edge pattern managing tables 242 a to 242 c arereferred when creating the edges from the config. The created nodes andedges are stored in the node managing table 243 and edge managing table244, respectively.

The node pattern registering unit 232 registers the node pattern ofconfig to the node pattern managing table 241 a, 241 b or 241 c. Forexample, the manager newly enters the node pattern corresponding to adevice when installing a new model device into the datacenter 100. A newnode pattern is entered into the node pattern registering unit 232 viathe management request accepting unit 203 and logical topology creatingunit 206, and the node pattern registering unit 232 registers the newlyentered node pattern into the node pattern managing table 241 a, 241 bor 241 c.

In addition, the node pattern means a creation pattern (string patternfor creating a node) of a setting command indicating the creation of avirtual resource for the various virtualization technologies in theconfig. The detail of the creation pattern will be described withreference to FIG. 4.

The above-described virtual resource means an instance of virtualelement created by the virtualization technology, moreover, the instancebecoming a configuration element for the logical topology in the virtualnetwork. The virtual resource includes the instance of the virtual LAN,of the virtual interface and of the virtual router, for example.

The edge pattern registering unit 233 registers the edge pattern ofconfig in the edge pattern managing table 244. For example, a user newlyenters the edge pattern to the corresponding device when installing thenew model device into the datacenter 100. A new edge pattern is enteredinto the edge pattern registering unit 233 via the management requestaccepting unit 203 and logical topology creating unit 206, and the nodepattern registering unit 232 registers the newly entered edge pattern inthe edge pattern managing table 242 a, 242 b or 242 c.

In addition, the edge pattern means a pattern of the connection command,which is a form of setting command indicating a connection between thevirtual resources in the various virtualization technologies in theconfig. The detail of the pattern for the connection command will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 5.

The connection between the virtual resources means a logical connectionbetween the above-described virtual resources configuring the logicaltopology. The connection between the virtual resources includes theconnection between the VLAN and VLAN interface, and between the VLANinterface and VRF.

The node creating unit 234 extracts a command corresponding to thecreation of virtual resource among the configs of devices, on the basisof the node pattern managing table 241 a, 241 b or 241 c to create thenode corresponding to the above-described virtual resource on the basisof information containing the extracted command. The created node isstored in the node managing table 243. The detail of node creating unit234 will be described with reference to FIG. 8.

The edge creating unit 235 extracts a command corresponding to theconnection between virtual resources declared in the configs of devices,on the basis of the edge pattern managing table 242 a, 242 b or 242 c tocreate the edge corresponding to the connection between theabove-described virtual resources on the basis of information containingthe extracted command. The created edge is stored in the edge managingtable 244. The detail of edge creating unit 235 will be described withreference to FIG. 9.

The logical topology constructing unit 236 creates the logical topologyinformation of virtual network in the datacenter 100 on the basis of thecontent in the node managing table 243 and edge managing table 244 tostore in the created topology DB 205. A format of the topologyinformation to be stored in this DB may appropriately be of an adjacencymatrix, an incidence matrix, an adjacency list, an incidence list, etc.This embodiment adopts the format of adjacency list.

The node pattern managing table 241 a to 241 c associates the creationpattern indicating the creation of virtual resource in the variousvirtualization technologies in the config with a node type. The creationof virtual resource, as examples, includes a new creation of theinstance of virtual interface and of the instance of virtual router. Inaddition, the above-described tables are prepared for every model of thedevices. For example, the node pattern of a model aaa (FIG. 3) ispresent in the node pattern managing table 241 a. The detail of nodepattern managing table 241 a will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

The edge pattern managing table 242 a to 242 c holds a connectionpattern (string pattern for connecting a pair of nodes) indicating theconnection between the virtual resources created with the variousvirtualization technologies in the config. The connection between thevirtual resources includes, as examples, the logical connection betweenthe instances of the virtual LAN and virtual interface and between theinstances of the virtual interface and virtual router. These tables areprepared for every model of the devices. For example, the edge patternof the model aaa is present in the edge pattern managing table 242 a.The detail of edge pattern managing table 242 a will be described withreference to FIG. 5.

The node managing table 243 manages the node to be created from theconfig. The detail of node managing table 243 will be described withreference to FIG. 6.

The edge managing table 244 manages the edge to be created from theconfig. The detail of edge managing table 244 will be described withreference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the networkdevice managing table 204.

The network device managing table 204 manages information used for whencollecting the config from the network device in the datacenter 100. Themanagement target information includes a device ID 301, a model 302, anIP address 303, a user name 304, a password 305, and a file name 306 ofthe config. The device ID 301 specifies uniquely an individual networkdevice from the entire network. The model 302, IP address 303, user name304 and password 305 are information required for carrying out a remotelogin to the network device to collect the config. The file name 306 isused for holding the collected config. The network device managing table204 may appropriately hold information other than the above-describedinformation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the node patternmanaging table 241 a.

The node pattern managing table 241 a manages the creation pattern usedto associate a node type 401 with a creation pattern 402 regarding thecreation of a virtual resource, in relation to the model “aaa”.

The node type represents the type of virtual resource. For example, anode N1 represents a virtual resource regarding the virtual LAN, a nodeN2 represents that regarding the virtual interface, and a node N3represents that regarding the virtual router.

For example, a creation pattern 411 relates to the creation of virtualresource for VLAN (node N1) as one of the virtual LAN techniques. Acreation pattern 412 relates to the creation of the virtual resource forVLAN interface (node N2) as one of the virtual interface techniques. Acreation pattern 413 relates to the creation of the VRF (node N3) as oneof the virtual router techniques. An indication matched with thecreation pattern in the config is emerged to thereby create a nodecorresponding to the node type.

The following description will be concerned with contents written ineach of the cells in the creation pattern 402. A first line in the cellmeans a start of setting a certain item, and the last line means an endof setting the item in the cell. For example, in the creation pattern412 of VLAN interface, the line indicating “interface vlan <id>” meansthe start of setting a certain VLAN interface, and the last lineindicating “!” means the last written line regarding this setting.Character strings, not indicated in the creating pattern 402, may bepresent in the area between the start and the end in the cell. Forexample, the line of “ip address” written in the creating pattern 412 isnot essential yet may be present in this area. A condition which thecreating pattern have to follow is that a type of node and an internaltype ID can be identified in a node creating processing as describedlater. The internal type ID is ID (ID of virtual resource written inconfig) for uniquely specifying the node in a certain node type of acertain config. The indication of <id> in the creation patterncorresponds to the internal type ID in the example shown in the nodepattern managing table 241 a. For example, in the creation pattern 411of VLAN (node N1), the indication <id> corresponding to VLAN number isthe internal type ID of node type N1.

The structure of the above-described node pattern managing table 241 ais not essential, but an appropriate structure may be adopted. Thecondition which the node pattern managing table 241 a have to follow isthat the creation pattern regarding the node can be identified from theconfig to be able to extract a node ID in the processing for creatingthe node. Therefore, a single table may configure so as to hold themodel “aaa” in the line or creation pattern 402, the model “bbb” inanother line of the creation pattern, and the model “ccc” on stillanother line of the creation pattern, without allotting the model “aaa”,“bbb”, “ccc” respectively to the node pattern managing tables 241 a, 241b, 241 c.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the edge patternmanaging table 242 a.

The edge pattern managing table 242 a manages an edge type 501, aconnection node type 502, and a connection pattern 503 regarding theconnection between the virtual resources, for the model “aaa”.

The edge type 501 represents a type of a connection relation between thevirtual resources. For example, an edge E1 represents the connectionbetween the respective virtual resources of the virtual LAN and virtualinterface, an edge E2 represents that between those of the virtualinterface and virtual router, and an edge E3 represents that between thetwo virtual resources of the virtual router. In this way, the respectivetype of edges is also associated with the node type (connection nodetype 502) of the two nodes to be coupled with the edge.

A connection pattern 511 relates to the edge E1 for coupling the virtualresource of VLAN (node N1) with that of VLAN interface (node N2), aconnection pattern 512 relates to the edge E2 for coupling the virtualresource of VLAN interface (node N2) with that of VRF (node N3), and aconnection pattern 513 relates to the edge 3 for coupling with the twovirtual resources of VRF (node N3). An indication matched with theconnection pattern in the config is emerged to thereby create acorresponding edge.

The following description will be concerned with contents written incells of the connection pattern 503. The first line in the cell means astart of setting a certain item, and the last line means an end ofsetting the item. For example, the line starting from “interface vlan”is the first line, and the line ending at “!” is the last line, in theconnection pattern 511. In addition, character strings, not indicated inthe connection pattern, may be present in the area between the start tand the end in the cell.

For example, the line “ip address” written in the connection pattern 511is not essential yet may be present is this area. The connection pattern513 is made up of plural blocks: a block starting from the line“route-map” and ending at “!”, and a block starting from the line “vrfdefinition” and ending at “!”. The both blocks are associated mutuallywith a character string indicated by <name>. A character string,regardless of the edge, may also be present in between the both blocks.

The condition which the correction pattern have to follow is that thetype of edge can be identified, and the internal type ID of the twonodes to be coupled to both ends of the edge can also be identified, inan after-described edge creating processing. The internal type ID isused for uniquely specifying the node regarding the node type present ina certain device, as described above. In this example, the internal typeID indicates as <id1>, <id2> in the connection pattern.

Specifically, in the case of the connection pattern 512 of edge E2, theindication <id1> corresponding to a VLAN interface number is theinternal type ID for one node, and the indication <id2> corresponding toa VRF number is the internal type ID for the other node. In addition,the internal type ID for the both nodes is sometimes indicated as <id>,as indicated the connection pattern 511 of edge E1.

In addition, the structure of the above-described edge pattern managingtable 242 a is not essential, but an appropriate structure may beadopted. The condition which the edge pattern managing table have tofollow is that the connection pattern regarding the edge can beidentified from config to be able to extract an edge ID, in theprocessing of creating the edge. Therefore, a single table may hold theconnection pattern of the model aaa in the line or connection pattern503, the model bbb in another line of a connection pattern, and themodel ccc on still another line of a connection pattern, withoutallotting the model “aaa”, “bbb”, “ccc” respectively to the edge patternmanaging tables 242 a, 242 b, 242.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the nodemanaging table 243.

The node managing table 243 manages the nodes created on the basis ofthe creation pattern of the config in an integrated fashion. Each of thenodes has a node ID 601 for enabling to uniquely specify it in theentire virtual network. The element of node includes the node type 401,a device ID 603 (ID of the device having the node), and an internal typeID 604.

A line 611 means that the virtual LAN number (internal type ID of nodeN1) has the virtual LAN (node N1) whose identification number (so-calledVLAN ID) is 10. A line 612 means that the virtual interface number(internal type ID of node N2) has a virtual interface (node N2) whichhas the parameter 10 as its identification number (so-called VLANinterface ID) in a device SW1. A line 613 means that the virtual routernumber (internal type ID of node N3) has a virtual router (node N3) ofparameter 1 in a device FW.

In addition, the structure of the above-described node managing table243 is not essential, but an appropriate structure may be adopted. Otherrealizations fo this table may include such that the table is dividedinto every node type and the table is divided into every device. Thecondition which the node managing table 243 have to follow is that thenode of the respective node types of device can be managed in anintegrated fashion.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the edgemanaging table 244.

The edge managing table 244 manages edge information regarding the edgecreated on the basis of the connection pattern of the config in theintegrated fashion. Each of the edges has an edge ID 701 for enabling touniquely specify it in the entire virtual network, and the element ofedge information includes the edge type 501, node IDs 601-1, 601-2 ofthe node to be coupled by the edge. In addition, the edge type 501 isnot essential in the edge managing table 244, but essential informationmay be required for the connection between specified two nodes.

In addition, the structure of the above-described edge managing table244 is not essential, but an appropriate structure may be adopted forenabling to manage the edge. The alternate structure of this table mayinclude, as another example, such that the table is divided into everyedge type.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the node creatingunit 234.

The node creating unit 234 includes, as components, a node pattern tablecalling unit 801, a node pattern extracting unit 802, a node parameterextracting unit 803, a node information creating unit 804, a node IDcreating unit 805, and a node information registering unit 806.

The node pattern table calling unit 801 calls the node pattern managingtable 241 a, 241 b or 241 c corresponding to the model of device havingthe config to be analyzed. Information of the device model is specifiedfrom the network device managing table 204. The node pattern tablecalling unit 801 is triggered by a topology information creating requestfrom the manager to thereby carry out the calling via the managementrequest accepting unit 203 and logical topology creating unit 206.

The node pattern extracting unit 802 extracts the setting commandregarding the node from the config in accordance with the creationpattern written in the called node pattern managing table 241 a, 241 bor 241 c.

The node parameter extracting unit 803 extracts the internal type ID ofnode for each of the extracted setting commands.

The node information creating unit 804 creates a node having an elementof the node type, internal type ID and device ID.

The node ID creating unit 805 generates an ID for uniquely identifyingthe created node among the other nodes in the entire virtual network.

The node information registering unit 806 adds the created node to thenode managing table 243.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the edge creating unit 235.

The edge creating unit 235 includes, as components, an edge patterntable calling unit 901, an edge pattern extracting unit 902, an edgeparameter extracting unit 903, an edge information creating unit 904, anode searching unit 905, an edge ID creating unit 906, and an edgeinformation registering unit 907.

The edge pattern table calling unit 901 calls the edge pattern managingtable 242 a, 242 b or 242 c corresponding to the model of device relatedto the config to be analyzed, and the model information is specifiedfrom the network device managing table 204.

The edge pattern extracting unit 902 extracts connection commandsregarding the edge from the config on the basis of the called edgepattern managing table 242 a, 242 b or 242 c.

The edge parameter extracting unit 903 extracts the internal type ID oftwo nodes to be coupled with the edge, from for each of the extractedconnection commands.

The edge information creating unit 904 creates information (having anextracted internal type ID, device ID and node type, as elements ofnode) of the two nodes to be coupled with the edge.

The node searching unit 905 searches the two nodes from the nodemanaging table 243, on the basis of the information of the two nodes tothen return a node ID of the two nodes thereto. These two node IDs areincluded in the element of the created edge.

The edge ID creating unit 906 generates an ID for uniquely identifyingthe created edge among the other edges in the entire virtual network.

The edge information registering unit 907 adds the created edge to theedge managing table 244.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing sequence for creating thelogical topology information.

The config collecting unit 201 collects the config from each of thenetwork devices on the basis of the information of network devicemanaging table 204, at a step S1001. The method of using the collectionfor the config includes telenet, TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol),NETCONF (Network Configuration Protocol), SNMP (Simple NetworkManagement Protocol), etc.

A single unanalyzed config file is read in at a step S1002. An analysisprocessing of a single config is carried out for each of the configscollected from the devices, at a step S1003. The processing of the stepS1003 creates one or more nodes and edges for the individual config. Thedetail of this processing will be described with reference to FIG. 11.

After all of the configs are analyzed and all of the nodes and edges arecreated, the logical topology constructing unit 236 aggregates theelements of node managing table 243 and edge managing table 244 as asingle chart to store in the created topology DB 205 at a step S1005 ifan unanalyzed config file is not present at a step S1004. If theunanalyzed config file is present, the processing returns to the stepS1002.

Finally, the GUI display controlling unit 221 visualizes the logicaltopology present in the created topology DB 205 to display on theconsole 110, at a step S1006. In addition, the GUI display controllingunit 221 may carry out an operation, such as addition or deletion of aspecific node and edge within the created logical topologies.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing sequence of the analysisprocessing of single config at the step S1003.

First, the device ID 301 and model 302 corresponding to the config arespecified from the network device managing table 204, on the basis ofthe file name 306 of config for the analysis target, at a step S1101.

The processing then proceeds to a processing of node creation.

The node pattern table calling unit 801 specifies the node patternmanaging table 241 a, 241 b or 241 c corresponding to the modelspecified from the network device managing table 204, at a step S1102.

On the basis of the specified table, the node pattern extracting unit802 extracts commands corresponding to the creation pattern 402 from theconfig to also identify the node type 401 corresponding to the extractedcommand, at a step S1103.

One extracted command is selected at a step S1104, and a creatingprocessing and registering processing for a single node are carried outfor each of the extracted commands, at a step S1105. A nodecorresponding to one extracted command is created in this processing tobe registered in the node managing table 243. The detail of thisprocessing will be described with reference to FIG. 12.

After completing the node creating processing, the processing proceedsto an edge creating processing.

If an unselected extracted command is not present at a step S1106, theedge pattern table calling unit 901 specifies the node pattern managingtable 241 a, 241 b or 241 c corresponding to the model acquired from thenetwork device managing table 204 in regard to the config of analysistarget, at a step S1107. The processing returns to the step S1104 if theunselected extracted command is present at the step S1106.

On the basis of the specified table, the edge pattern extracting unit902 extracts the command corresponding to the connection pattern 503from the config to also identify the edge type 501 corresponding to theextracted command and node type 502 of the two nodes to be coupled withthe edge, at a step S1108.

One extracted command is selected at a step S1109, and the creatingprocessing and registering processing for a single edge are carried outfor each of the extracted commands, at a step S1110. This processingcreates an edge corresponding to the extracted command to be registeredin the edge managing table 244. The detail of this processing will bedescribed reference to FIG. 13.

In addition, in this embodiment, the node creating processing is carriedout for each of the commands after extracting all of the commandsmatched with the node pattern in the config, but this processing orderis not essential. That is, an appropriate method of carrying out thenode creating processing in regard to the extracted command may beadopted for the extraction of every command etc.

The processing order of the edge pattern extracting processing and edgeprocessing is also not essential. That is, an appropriate method ofcarrying out the edge creating processing in regard to the extractedcommand may be adopted for the extraction of every command matched withthe edge pattern.

In this embodiment, the edge creating processing is carried out afterthe node creating processing, however, this processing order is also notessential, and the both of processing may be carried out in parallel.That is, a parallel matching processing is carried out for the patternregarding the node and edge while analyzing the config, and the node andedge associated with the corresponded pattern may be createdappropriately. The individual node and edge may be created by anyprocessing order if a condition is satisfied such that the node coupledwith both ends of the edge is already created for when creating theedge.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing sequence of the single nodecreating/registering processing at the step S1105. This processingcreates the node corresponding to the extracted command to be registeredin the node management table 243. To this end, the processing is carriedout below.

First, the node parameter extracting unit 803 identifies the internaltype ID from the extracted command, at a step S1201. Specifically, forthe one extracted command at the step S1103, the internal type ID of thenode is specified in accordance with the node type identified at thestep S1103 and the creation pattern 402 in the node pattern managingtable 241 a, 241 b or 241 c.

The node information creating unit 804 then creates newly a node, at astep S1202. The element to be possessed in the newly created node hasthree: the node type (identified at the step S1103); the internal typeID (specified at the step S1201); and the device ID (specified at thestep S1101). In addition, in the case where the node type is N1 (virtualresource of the virtual LAN technique), the device ID is exceptionallynot assigned (or a fixed character string, such as n/a, is assigned tothe device ID).

The processing then checks whether the node having the same elementpossessed in the created node is already present in the node managingtable 243, at a step S1203. If the node is not present therein, thefollowing processing carries out at steps S1204 to S1206. The singlenode creating/registering processing at the step S1105 terminateswithout carrying out the steps S1204 to S1206 if the node is presenttherein.

The node ID creating unit 805 creates a node ID for the newly creatednode, at the step S1204. In this embodiment, the node ID is set asinteger, and the value incremented by one from the largest node ID amongthe node IDs of node present in the node managing table 243, is set asthe node ID of the newly created node. In addition, the node ID may bedetermined by other methods. The condition which a format and creatingrule of the node ID have to follow is that each of the nodes can beuniquely identified in the entire virtual network.

The node information creating unit 804 appends the above-described nodeID to the newly created node, at the step S1205.

The node information registering unit 806 adds the newly created nodehaving the newly assigned node ID to the node managing table 243, at thestep S1206.

The above description is concerned with the single nodecreating/registering processing.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing sequence of the single edgecreating/registering processing at the step S1110. This processingcreates an edge corresponding to the extracted command to be registeredin the edge managing table 244. To this end, the following processing iscarried out.

First, the edge parameter extracting unit 903 specifies the internaltype ID of two nodes to be coupled with the edge, from the extractedcommand, at a step S1301. Specifically, for the one of commandsextracted at the step S1109, the internal type ID of two nodes to becoupled with the edge is specified in accordance with the edge typeidentified at the step S1108, the node type of two nodes to be coupledwith the edge, and the connection pattern 503 of edge pattern managingtable 242 a, 242 b or 242 c.

Next, the edge information creating unit 904 creates the nodeinformation of two nodes to be coupled with the edge, at a step S1302.The element to be possessed in the node has three: the node type(identified at the step S1108); the internal type ID (specified at thestep S1301); and the device ID (specified at the step S1101). Inaddition, the device ID is not assigned exceptionally in the case wherethe node type is N1 (virtual resource of virtual LAN), or the fixedcharacter string, such as n/a, is assigned to the device ID.

The node searching unit 905 then searches the node having the sameattributes for the two nodes created at the step S1103, from the nodemanaging table 243, at a step S1303. The node searching unit 905 passesthe node IDs of two nodes found by the search to the edge informationcreating unit 904.

The edge information creating unit 904 newly creates an edge, at a stepS1304. The elements to be possessed in the edge are the edge type andthe node ID of two nodes to be coupled with the edge.

The edge ID creating unit 906 creates an edge ID for the newly creatededge, at a step S1305. In this embodiment, the edge ID is set asinteger, and the value incremented by one from the largest edge ID amongthe edge IDs of edge present in the edge managing table 244, is set asthe edge ID of the newly created edge. In addition, the edge ID may bedetermined by other methods. The condition to a format and creating ruleof the edge ID have to follow is that each of the edges can be specifieduniquely in the entire network.

The edge information creating unit 904 assigns the above-described edgeinformation to the newly created edge, at a step S1035.

The edge information registering unit 907 adds the newly created edgehaving the assigned edge information to the edge managing table 244, ata step S1306. The edge information registering unit 907 adds the edge tothe edge managing table 244, at a step S1307.

The above description is concerned with the single edgecreating/registering processing.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the topology created by theabove-described topology creating processing.

The node created from the config corresponds to N1401 to N1407, andcreated edge corresponds to E1411 to E1415. The node N1 corresponds toN1401, N1415, the node N2 corresponds to N1402, N1406, and the node N3corresponds to N1403, N1404. The edge E1 corresponds to E1411, E1415coupled with the node of node type N1, N2. The edge E2 corresponds toE1412, E1414 coupled with the node of node type N2, N3. The edge E3corresponds to E1413 coupled with the two nodes of node type N3.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a topology management window.

A topology management window 1501 is displayed on the console 110 andincludes a topology display tab 1502 and a pattern list tab 1503, forexample.

The topology display tab 1502 displays a successive item therein, fordisplaying the created topology information, and includes a createdtopology display area 1511 and a device list display area 1512.

The pattern list tab 1503 displays the node pattern managing table 241a, 241 b, 241 c and edge pattern managing table 242 a, 242 b, 242 ccorresponding to the models of network device. The node pattern managingtable and edge pattern managing table for the new model are added tothis screen, for example.

The created topology display area 1511 displays visualized logicaltopology information 1521. In addition, the created topology displayarea 1511 may include buttons 1522 to 1525 for controlling the displaysuch that the node and edge of the displayed topology are added ordeleted. For the visualization, an appropriate method may be adoptedsuch that the display for the virtual interface (node N2) is omitted,the display is carried out by a representing method of directly couplingthe virtual LAN (node N1) with the virtual router (node N3), etc.

The device list display area 1512 displays a network device list 1531,and this tab has a button 1532 for registering the device information inthe network device list 1531, a button 1533 for carrying out the configcollection from the network device, a button 1534 for carrying out thecreation of logical topology information with the collected config, anda button 1535 for displaying the created topology information on thescreen.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing components of management server 109. Themanagement server can be realized by using a commodity computerproviding a CPU 1601, a memory 1602 and an auxiliary storage device1603. Functions of devices configuring the management server 109 arerealized on the computer by executing programs stored in the auxiliarystorage device 1603 by CPU 1601. The programs may be stored in theauxiliary storage device 1603 in the computer in advance. Alternatively,the programs may be derived from other device to the auxiliary storagedevice 1603 via a usable medium by the computer through a communicationinterface 1604 and a media interface 1605, as required. The mediaincludes a communication media (or wire, wireless optical network,carrier wave propagating on the network, and digital signal) or anexternal storage medium 1607 removable from the media interface 1605. Inaddition, the management server 109 may be coupled with the console 110for operating it through an I/O device 1606.

According to this embodiment, the logical topology can be acquiredrapidly and accurately in the virtual network constructed by using theplural virtual technologies. By visualizing the created topologyinformation, a difference caused by an individual skill can be resolvedfor creating a logical topology diagram to therefore keep the quality oflogical topology diagram constant. The correctness of config can beverified intuitively by viewing the visualized logical topology.

In this embodiment, the three types of nodes are defined as N1, N2 andN3, and the virtual LAN ID, virtual interface ID and virtual router IDare assigned as internal type ID for the respective nodes. In contrast,in response to the configuration of system to be constructed in thedatacenter 100, it is also useful that the information is added to thenode as described below. That is, it is useful that the node managingtable 243 is extended, as a method described below.

First, the method includes a physical functional element which is notvirtual. For example, a number “0” (number cannot be set as virtual LAN)of the virtual LAN is allotted as ID of a physical LAN, or a physicalresource is regarded as one of the virtual resources such that thenumber “0” of the virtual router number is allotted as ID of a physicalrouter etc. A physical resource is regarded as one virtual resource.This method is useful such that the physical LAN in addition to thevirtual LAN, a physical interface in addition to the virtual interfaceand the physical router in addition to the virtual router, are alsofunctioned as resources used for the network communication, for example.

There is a method of appending IP segment information to the virtualLAN. In this method, one VLAN has plural IP segments, which is effectivefor the case of routing inside VLAN. In this case, the IP segmentinformation is appended to the virtual LAN in addition to the virtualLAN number, and IP address of interface is appended, as the internaltype ID of N2, in addition to a virtual interface number. The IP segmentinformation is written in the config, therefore, the node patternmanaging table 241 a, 241 b, 241 c is simply extended so as to extractthis information.

There is a method of adding a physical connection information of LAN. Inthis method, it is required to redefine the system of node and edge,that is, the node N1, N2 and N3, and the edge E0, E1, E2 and E3. Thenode N1 represents the physical interface, the node N2, N3 represent thevirtual interface and virtual router, respectively, likewise thisembodiment. The edge E0 means that the physical interfaces are coupledwith a physical link, the edge E1 means that a setting relation betweenthe physical interface and virtual interface, and the edge E2, E3 meansthe same as described in this embodiment. The element to be possessed inthe node type N1 to be redefined has three: the node type; the deviceID; and a pair of a physical interface ID and the virtual LAN ID. Thetwo of nodes N1 are coupled with the edge E0 in the case where twophysical devices are coupled with a physical link. The nodes N1, N2 arecoupled with the edge E0 in the case where the virtual LAN is allottedto the physical interface. This method is useful for when the detail oftopology of the virtual LAN needs to be acquired, in the case where itis possible to obtain physical connection information.

Finally, there is a method of containing information of a server and astorage. The server and storage can also be represented by using thenode N1, N2 and N3, and the edge E1, E2 and E3, defined in thisembodiment. The information regarding the server device represents suchthat VM corresponds to the node N3, vNIC and vHBA corresponds to thenode N2. The information regarding the storage device and SAN switchingdevice represents such that LU and VSAN corresponds to the node N3, thevirtual interface created by VSAN interface and NPIV corresponds to thenode N2, and a zone created by Zoning corresponds to the node N1. Thesefunctional elements associated with each other can also be applied tothe edge. The node and edge different from the node N1, N2, N3 and theedge E1, E2, E3 defined in this embodiment may be defined, and thesenodes and edges may also be corresponded to the virtualizationtechnology of the server and storage.

The config of the network device may be of MIB (Management InformationBase) collected by SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). In thecase of adopting this method, information required for the networkdevice managing table 204 is a community name of SNMP etc. It isrequired to change the creation pattern of the node pattern managingtable 241 a, 241 b, 241 c and edge pattern managing table 242 a, 242 b,242 c so as to follow the format of MIB.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference toexample embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications may be made in form and detail withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter.

1. A management server that manages a virtual network, including pluraltypes of virtual resources generated by plural types of virtualizationtechnologies, constructed on an information processing system coupledwith physical devices including a server device, a storage device and anetwork device by a network, comprising: a managing table unit thatholds a creation pattern for specifying either the plural types ofvirtual resources created by the plural types of virtualizationtechnologies and a connection pattern for specifying either connectionrelations between the plural types of virtual resources; an informationextracting unit that extracts information of a plurality of virtualresources and information of a plurality of connections between virtualresources, from setting information set in the physical devices inaccordance with the creation pattern and the connection pattern; and atopology information generating unit that generates logical topologyinformation of the virtual network in accordance with the extractedinformation.
 2. The management server according to claim 1 furthercomprising: a device managing table unit that manages information, forevery plurality of physical devices, used for collecting the settinginformation of the plurality of physical devices forming the virtualnetwork; and a config collecting unit that collects the settinginformation of the physical devices by using the managed information. 3.The management server according to claim 1 further comprising avisualization unit that visualizes the generated logical topologyinformation.
 4. The management server according to claim 3 furthercomprising the visualization unit that adds or deletes the virtualresource information or a part of the connection information between thevirtual resources in the visualized topology information, in response toa management request.
 5. The management server according to claim 1further comprising a parameter extracting unit that extracts a parameterfor identifying the virtual resource information from the settinginformation set in the physical devices in accordance with the creationpattern and the connection pattern.
 6. The management server accordingto claim 5 wherein the virtual resource information includes informationindicating a type of the virtual resource, an ID of the physical devicepossessing the virtual resource and an ID for identifying the virtualresource in the type of the virtual resource, and the connectioninformation between the virtual resources includes two pieces of thevirtual resources connected each other.
 7. The management serveraccording to claim 1 wherein the virtual network is configured by usingone or more among a virtual LAN technology, a virtual interfacetechnology and a virtual router technology.
 8. The management serveraccording to claim 1 further comprising: a node associating unit thatassociates the virtual resource information with a node; an edgeassociating unit that associates the connection information of thevirtual resource with an edge; a node information unit that createsnodes from the setting information set in the physical device inaccordance with the creation pattern; an edge information unit thatcreates edges from the setting information set in the physical device inaccordance with the connection pattern; and a display creating unit thatcreates a graph made up of the nodes and edges corresponding to thelogical topology information of the virtual network.
 9. The managementserver according to claim 8 wherein a node table unit associates a nodetype representing a type of virtual resource with the creation pattern,an edge table unit associates an edge type representing a type of theconnection relation of the virtual resource with the connection pattern,the logical topology information includes at least three types of thenode type and at least two types of the edge type, node informationrepresenting the created node includes a node ID associated with thenode type, a physical device ID, and an ID in the node type, foruniquely identify the node, and edge information representing thecreated edge includes the edge type, and the node ID of two nodes to becoupled with the edge.
 10. A configuration management method of alogical topology in a virtual network, including plural types of virtualresources generated by plural types of virtualization technologies,constructed on an information processing system coupled with physicaldevices including a server device, a storage device and a network deviceby a network, comprising: a step of holding a creation pattern forspecifying either the plural types of virtual resources created by theplural types of virtualization technologies and a connection pattern forspecifying either connection relations between the plural types ofvirtual resources; a step of extracting information of a plurality ofvirtual resources and connection information between a plurality ofvirtual resources, from setting information set in the physical devicesin accordance with the creation pattern and the connection pattern; anda step of creating logical topology information of the virtual networkin accordance with the extracted information.
 11. The method accordingto claim 10 further comprising: a step of managing information, forevery plurality of physical devices, used for collecting the settinginformation of the plurality of physical devices configuring the virtualnetwork; and a step of collecting the setting information of thephysical devices by using the managed information.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 10 further comprising a step of visualizing thecreated logical topology information.
 13. The method according to claim12 further comprising a step of adding or deleting the virtual resourceinformation or a part of the connection information between the virtualresources in the visualized logical topology information, in response toa management request.
 14. The method according to claim 10 furthercomprising a step of extracting a parameter for identifying the virtualresource information from the setting information set in the physicaldevices in accordance with the creation pattern and the connectionpattern.
 15. The method according to claim 14 wherein the virtualresource information includes information indicating a type of thevirtual resource, an ID of the physical device possessing the virtualresource and an ID for identifying the virtual resource in the type ofthe virtual resource, and the connection information indicating theconnection between the virtual resources includes two pieces of thevirtual resources connected each other.
 16. The method according toclaim 10 wherein the virtual network is configured by using one or moreamong a virtual LAN technology, a virtual interface technology and avirtual router technology.
 17. The method according to claim 10 furthercomprising: a step of associating the virtual resource information witha node, associating the connection information of the virtual resourcewith an edge, and a step of creating the node from the settinginformation set in the physical device in accordance with the creationpattern; a step of creating the edge from the setting information set inthe physical device in accordance with the connection pattern; and astep of creating a graph made up of the nodes and edges corresponding tothe logical topology information of the virtual network.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 17 wherein a node type representing a type of virtualresource is associated with the creation pattern, an edge typerepresenting a type of the connection relation of the virtual resourceis associated with the connection pattern, the logical topologyinformation includes at least three types of the node type and at leasttwo types of the edge type, node information representing the creatednode includes a node ID associated with the node, the node type, aphysical device ID, and an ID in the node type, for uniquely indentifythe node, and edge information representing the created edge includesthe edge type, and a node information ID of two nodes to be coupled withthe edge.